In a market filing on Thursday, Treasury said it was asking Chinese authorities about unspecified "new and additional verification requirements" since last month, seemingly applied only to Australian wine.

A spokeswoman for Ciobo did not immediately respond to request for comment.

"Australians are not making gains at the expense of Chinese, and Chinese are not making gains at the expense of Australians".

He said each of the company's core 8-to-10 labels is growing in China - Australia's biggest wine-export market - and questioned the motives of disgruntled distributors.

Treasury Wine shares fell as much as 12 percent, their biggest fall since 2014.

His muscular response had the desired effect - the stock, which had plunged as low as A$15.64 in early trading, clawed back more than half its losses to close at A$16.90, down 6 percent for the day.

Ciobo, speaking to reporters in Shanghai at the start of a three-day visit, said a diplomatic team had been "mobilized" to sort out the customs delays.

In 2013 Treasury Wine took a $155 million hit from a glut of stock in the United States, which resulted in then chief executive David Dearie leaving the company.

"I do believe that this will be a short term getting-used-to process for us and other players in Australia", he told an investor conference call.

Raby wrote that Bishop has not visited Australia's most important trade partner in more than two years.

Ties between Australia and China have been tested over the past year, partly over Australian concerns about rising Chinese influence that led Canberra to propose legislation banning foreign political donations.

"Our trade and investment relationship with China is strong, and yes there are areas where Australia and China have some differences", he said prior to the trip.

However, what her words ignore is the noticeable rise in Australian media's anti-China rhetoric and the unwarranted accusations against China by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and members of his government.

"Now it is imposing regulatory barriers without contravening the free trade agreement".

Australia's rift with China is unfolding against the backdrop of a much larger trade dispute between Beijing and Washington that has fanned worries of a full-blown trade war that could weigh on the global economy.

Chinese and US trade delegates are starting a second round of talks on Thursday in Washington after threatening tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars of goods.

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